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Dept-sanctioned depots smuggling timber
Rs 13-cr dairy project sanctioned
Power panel rejects plea
State to have professional tourist guides
Expand airports: CM
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14 foreigners hurt as bus overturns
160 students feel cheated
ESI for private educational staff Apple-laden trucks add to traffic chaos
Postal Dept penalised
Manimahesh Chhari yatra begins
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Dept-sanctioned depots smuggling timber
Mandi, September 4 Though forest officials blamed the rising cases of timber smuggling on the misuse of timber distribution (TD) rights and shortage of forest guards to nip it in the bud , but it had come to light that the Forest Department was responsible for giving a free run to timber smugglers through these PTSDs under the influence of the local MLAs or ministers. In the Mandi forests circle, 53 PTSDs and over 154 private furniture sale depots came up in the last few years and catered to the needs of over 150 saw mills. Most of the deodar timber was being smuggled from the Kataula-Panarsa-Chehtigarh belt in Drang constituency, where the IPH Minister, Mr Kaul Singh Thakur owns an apple orchard. The Forest Department seized over 264 deodar sleepers recently which were being smuggled through the PSTDs. But the department had not deputed any permanent ranger in the Katula-Panarsa belt. Even forest guards deputed there for the last five years were reportedly giving almost a free run to the TD holders or the forest mafias to operate in the areas, revealed sources. To get these private timber sale deports all that was required was a no objection certificate (NOC) from the Panchayat or the Notified Area Committee or Municipal Council and a phone call from a minister to run the depot after it had been sanctioned by the Forest Department, confided a depot holder. Most of the timber sale depot’s were operating the illegal business around towns, where they got a ready booming market of the builders, contractors and individuals and selling the timber to them at cheaper rates than what was fixed by the state-run the depots of the Forest Corporation. Ironically, a part of the smuggled timber that the forest department confiscated throughout the year was facilitating timber smuggling. “The private depot owners buy the old or the defunct timber during the auction and use its bills or the materials to sell the smuggled fresh timber in the towns”, the sources revealed. To legalise the smuggled timber through the private timber sale depots there were two ways: first, and was is they bought the old timber during the auction and second was that the private suppliers procure the bills from the town and dispatch the consignments to the towns in the names of the bill holders to hood- wink guard at the chek post. The Conservator of Forests, Mandi Circle, Mr C.S. Singh, blamed the problem on the shortage of staff, saying that the circle had 54 posts of forest guard vacant. “The forest guards are managing two to three beats together. In 15 cases the forest guards have been under trial after the department got complaints against them”, he said. On the private timber sale depots, Mr Singh said that the department was reviewing its working and if found detrimental to the forest policy they would be abolished. “The department has confiscated 146 vehicles involved in over 141 cases of timber smuggling since 1994 till today. In most cases the timber was procured from the TD holders”, he claimed. |
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Rs 13-cr dairy project sanctioned
Kangra, September 4 Dr Rishi Khajuria, Senior Veterinary Officer, said yesterday that this project was being implemented through the Animal Husbandry Department under the patronage of the Deputy Commissioner. He said that under the project 20,000 live stock owners, mainly from the BPL category covering all panchayats of this district, were being assisted through various components helping them to have increased milk production. He said that it was a composite group approach and those people who showed interest and aptitude and opted for taking dairy as a principle activity were converted into composite groups. There were 10,000 such groups comprising of 20,000 families in this district. He said that in this subdivision 96 groups had been formed, assisting 1,937 families, mostly under BPL, under this project. He said that under the extension and training component 32 field-level workshops had been organised so far and 1,867 beneficiaries had attended these camps in this subdivision alone in order to bridge the gap between the existing technical knowledge of keeping milk animals and available scientific management methods. Five batches comprising of 183 selected beneficiaries were imparted training in latest dairy farming practices in different scientific institutions of repute in the country under this project. He said that Rs 2,13,600 were given as an incentive to 356 families for improvement in existing sheds and hygienic conditions of the cowsheds. Dr Khajuria said that 53 sexual health and veterinary camps were organised and 2,401 cases of infertility and other cases were treated free of cost by using hormones breeding tone -ups and fertility boosters to tackle the ‘repeat breeding’ and indirectly solving the problem of stray animals. |
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Power panel rejects plea Solan, September 4 The commission paid no heed to the plea of the investors to effect a stay till the new tariff rates were reviewed. The beleaguered investors argued that when the Delhi Government could roll back the exorbitant hike in power tariff why the state government could not come to their rescue. The commission, while hearing the arguments put forth by the investors, rejected the basis for effecting some decrease in the power tariff. It opined that the plea of the investors could be taken up only if it was based on merit or if new facts, which had not been taken care earlier while devising the tariff plan, were brought to its notice. The commission, however, took the view that the reform surcharge could not be claimed by the electricity board unless the electricity board effected reforms in a planned manner. An amount of Rs 50 crore could then be claimed from the users if certain reforms were carried out. While asserting that the new tariff was incentive-based the commission has held that the investors could gain from it if they increased their load capacity and brought about efficiency by effecting improvements in their units. The senior vice-president of the Industries Association, Mr Deepak Bhandari said this arbitrary decision of the commission would spell doom for future expansion of industry in Himachal. He said the association would urge the Chief Minister to intervene in the matter and seek review of the tariff. He argued that when this provision was laid down in the Act itself the government should come out in defense of the industry which generated revenue worth crores. He said with power rates varying between Rs 3 to Rs 12 for various categories they were at a loss of words when their counterparts in Gujarat, Mumbai, etc., inquired about the power tariff in Himachal. New rates, which came into effect from June 30, had raised the ire of the investors who unanimously resolved to put on hold payment of bills. Investors from the other industrial areas, including Poanta Sahib and Kala Amb meanwhile, deposited bills with protest letters against the exorbitant hike.
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State to have professional tourist guides
Dharamsala, September 4 While the ‘tourism-orientation course’ will help the police and home guards focus on the safety aspects of the tourists, especially foreigners, the tourism intermediaries will learn more about the state with a ‘travel guide course’ so that they could act as qualified travel guides. As per figures available with the Tourism Department, the total number of tourists coming to district Kangra swelled to 2,09,628 during the last year, from the count of 1,41,600 in the year 1998. “The tourism intermediaries are no less than ambassadors of the country and tourists take back the image projected by them. Therefore, it is important to have professional tourist guides in the state. A total of 30 travel agents and tourist guides are participating in the week-long course being held at Dharamsala,” said a spokesman of the Tourism Department. “The course includes topics like ethics of tourism, communication skills, shopping industry of the state and information about the local festivals. Many tourists complain that it is difficult to get even basic information like places where they could get their photo films developed,” he said. The professional guides would be able to help tourists in making the best of their stay in Kangra district. “Information like popular food joints, tourist places and the easiest and economical ways of reaching there are things concerning both foreigners and local tourists,” he said. On the other hand, the course for police personnel and home guards aims at providing proper law and order at the tourist places and to assist tourists coming from abroad and other states by providing necessary information and security. During the three-day course, experts will tell cops on how to develop a tourist-friendly attitude and get an overview of the tourism industry. In addition, they would get training on dealing with accident cases, hygiene, challan proceedings and foreigner registration so that the police personnel can act as mobile information centres with better understanding of the tourists’ common problems. Similar courses for police personnel and home guards would be held at Solan, Una, Hamirpur, Dalhusie, Manali and Kinnaur. |
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Expand airports: CM
Shimla, September 4 The Chief Minister, who held at a high level meeting with the senior officers of the Airport Authority of India, inspected the Jubbarhatti airport here today to ascertain the possibility of its expansion so 48-seater aircrafts could land, said expansion was essential to attract high-end tourists and to promote quality tourism in a big way. He said that the state had three airports at Shimla, Kullu and Kangra which required expansion. He said that Rs 30-crore project for the expansion of airports was in progress and the funds had been sanctioned by the 10th Finance Commission for the purpose. Additional funds, if required, would be arranged to ensure that work was completed on priority. Besides expansion of airports, the government planned to utilize its network of 56 helipads for tourism purposes. It was considering introducing helicopter services for air transport of the tourists from one destination to the other. He said that if needed more helipads would also be constructed. Mr Virbhadra Singh said that work on civil enclave at Pathankot was also being carried out to supplement the endeavour of the government in strengthening the air transport network. |
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14 foreigners hurt as bus overturns
Dharamsala, September 4 According to the police, the accident took place around 10 p.m., when the driver failed to negotiate a small blockage on part of a road due to a landslide. The bus hit a house along the road and overturned. The bus was going to Manali from McLeodganj. The tourist-passengers were brought to Dr Rajendra Prasad Zonal Hospital. The driver of the bus, Karam Singh, has been booked for negligent driving. |
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160 students feel cheated
Shimla, September 4 As per the order, which comes as a sequel to the high court judgment, the university had no legal powers to start distance education courses at all. It has also directed that fee paid by the students be refunded. The high court had earlier held that the universities set up under a state Act could not affiliate centres outside the state. Worse, the institute projected the distance courses as regular ones and charged fee of Rs 70,000 for a regular course instead of Rs 25,000 prescribed for distance education course. The fees paid in excess will have to be refunded. To safeguard interests of the students, who face bleak future, the state government has initiated the process to get the institute affiliated to the Himachal Pradesh University for various courses. It has granted conditional “no-objection certificate” to the institute for affiliation to the university for BBA, M.Sc. (biotechnology) and Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management. The conditions laid down include refund of fees to the students, appointment of teachers in accordance with the norms laid down by the University Grants Commission and removal of deficiencies in the laboratories and library. It has been given three months to fulfil conditions. In case of MBA and B.Tech affiliation could not be granted as prior approval of the All-India Council for Technical Education was required. Initially, the government wanted the MBA students accommodated in the university itself but this was not possible as admission is carried out on the basis of an entrance test. There is, thus, no option but to continue the course in the distance education mode by getting affiliation from some other university. In case of the B.Tech. course for which classes were yet to be started it has been decided the university should finalise the syllabus and complete other formalities at the earliest to introduce the course. |
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ESI for private educational staff Parwanoo: The state ESI Corporation is all set to cover private educational institutions under Section 1(5) of the ESI Act. The state government has already issued a notification in this regard expressing its intention to extend the ESI scheme to educational institutes in the state. The Regional ESI Office of corporation here in its survey on private institutes in the state found out that 32 such institutes were legally liable to be covered under the ESI provisions. Out of the 32 institutes, Shimla district had maximum 17 institutes, while Solan and Una districts had 14 and 1 institutes, respectively. In Solan district, Solan and Parwanoo towns had five private educational institutes each, while two institutes each were in Baddi and Nalagarh. The institutes had permanent staff that exceeded 20 and got salary of over Rs 7,500 per month, said Regional Director of Parwanoo Regional ESI Office P.K.N. Namboodiri, who joined the office yesterday. Only teaching and non-teaching staff would be covered under the ESI, he asserted. In its notification, the state government had given a six-month period, which ended on July 11. The ESI would be implemented on these institutes after a final notification of the state government was issued on the matter, said Mr Namboodiri. Secretary, Labour and Employment, Anil
Khachi, while attending the ESI board’s 34th meeting here last
month, had assured to facilitate the process for final notification.
Meanwhile, the corporation has also planned to cover private nursing
homes under the ESI provisions.
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Apple-laden trucks add to traffic chaos Parwanoo, September 4 The Bhojnagar Mallha road and the road from Kunihar meeting Barotiwala could be used to divert the apple-laden trucks, according to local residents. The local police is helpless in tackling the problem due to lack of assistance from the neighbouring state.
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Postal Dept penalised
Sundernagar, September 4 Mr Narinder Pal Goyal, a resident of Banaik, Sundernagar, had filed the complaint alleging that he had sent a demand draft of Rs 10,000 on December 20, 2004 through speed post to his son, Varun, studying in National Institute of Technology at Jaipur. The complainant had informed his son telephonically about the draft but the speed post letter was not received by his son. On this a complaint was lodged with the Postmaster, Sundernagar, who assured quick action but again the letter was not traced. The complainant’s son arranged the amount from his friends and the complainant asked the bank to stop payment of the demand draft. When the letter was not delivered to his son, he filed a complaint before the forum claiming compensation on account of deficiency in service. The department filed the reply admitting that the speed post letter was posted at Sundernagar but denied that the demand draft was in the letter. The forum held that even if it is admitted that demand draft was not in the letter, the letter was not delivered which amounted to a deficiency in service on the part of the department. |
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Manimahesh Chhari yatra begins
Chamba, September 4 Mr Mahesh Pathaiana, said that the ‘Chhari Mubarak’ would halt at various places and reach the lake on September 10. |
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Youth stabbed to death
Dharamsala, September 4 Tara Chand, brother of the deceased, said that Kartar Chand, stabbed him with a knife to settle scores with him. The police has arrested the accused.
— TNS |
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